Thursday, June 01, 2006

We Apologize For The Offensive Picture, We Realize Some Of You Read This At Work

Sometimes the Republican spin cycle is really amazing to us – especially when it is sudsing the gays. Take a Washington Times story from yesterday, which was linked on Drudge. The headline blared: “DNC Chair Dean Suggested that Opponents of Homosexual "Marriage" are Bigots.”

First of all, we love the scare quotes around “marriage.” Like we’re talking about gay “competitive sports,” or something. But second, you have to look at what Howard Dean (who we don’t necessarily love either, for the record), actually said:

"At a time when the Republican Party is in trouble with their conservative base, Bill Frist is taking a page straight out of the Karl Rove playbook to distract from the Republican Party's failed leadership and misplaced priorities by scapegoating LGBT families for political gain, using marriage as a wedge issue," said Mr. Dean. "It is not only morally wrong, it is shameful and reprehensible.”

You’ll notice the word bigot is never used anywhere. What Dean said, and we agree, is that right wing leadership is using incendiary issues like abortion, gay marriage, and flag burning to try to distract their conservative base from the deep flaws in other elements of their policy. Which is an excellent point. By forcing the general public to face the gay marriage issue before everyone is appropriately educated, Republicans are robbing LGBT families of a chance to fairly defend themselves. It’s not about our problems now, it’s about theirs.

Because they realize this is a good point, right wing writers like Matt Drudge and the Washington Times’ Greg Pierce have taken the NEXT page from the Karl Rove playbook, and twisted Dean’s words to sound shrill, close-minded, and hysterical. Which thereby robs them of their logical weight.

If only the Democrats were as good at this skill. Then every time a conservative shrieked “the gays want to destroy traditional marriage!!!” the headlines could say “Republican Panic Spreads from Immigrants To Gays. Are Low Income Families, Jews Next?”